here i go again...

Saw Mamma Mia! today at the Cave, whoops I mean the Auditorium Theatre. And I luuurrved it very much. By the end of the show, the audience was on its feet singing along to "Mamma Mia!" "Dancing Queen" and "Waterloo." It was everything the movie singalong should have been but wasn't. Somewhere I think Benny & Bjorn are smiling. Or laughing all the way to the biggest bank in Stockholm. Maybe both.

So. Much. Fun.

It's Friday!

We all know what that means... another Patti YouTube. This one is a blast from the past, Evita style.

Time Out New York: The Saga Continues

Remember a while ago I posted wondering about the mysterious issues of Time Out New York that kept arriving on my doorstep? Well, they stopped coming for a while, so I figured... well, I don't know what I figured, but basically they stopped coming so I stopped worrying about it. Then they started up again, this time with an explanation - I joined hiptix so I could get a discount to Sunday in the Park with George at Roundabout and they decided to give all their participants a free 2 year subscription. Which is awesome, yes? Most definitely yes.

So, mystery solved. Kind of. But here's the thing - they come sort of sporadically (I blame the mailman)and I am worried that this week, when I really really want it to turn up, I won't get it... In the meantime, I have been stalking Borders across the street.

It appears that TONY has a karmic vendetta with me, but we always hurt the ones we love...

Dear 2016 Olympic Committee,

It's been awhile since we've talked. I hope you've been busy on the opening ceremonies ideas, you know everyone I have talked to really likes my dancing cow lighting the torch idea - I will give it to you cheap.

I was reading in the Sun Times that there is a little hiccup in the Olympic Village site planning arena. May I be so bold as to offer a suggestion? I think to really show the warmth and hospitality of the city, we should put the athletes with host families. Sort of like that Seinfeld episode where the runner stays with Elaine, except we'd all get better alarm clocks. I will personally offer my own space to the Australian men's swimming team. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it, for the glory of da city of Chicago and all that.

A Smile for Monday Monday Morning...

Brought to you by Flight of the Conchords...

when did THAT happen?

I appear to have gotten myself a life... my weekends are starting to fill up with lots of fun, non-ulcer-inducing relaxing type activities. This weekend, of course, there was San Francisco Ballet, but lookie, lookie! I've got more stuff planned too!
I know it would probably be smarter, in these times of economic uncertainty, to stash my cash in the mattress rather than buying copious amounts of theater tickets. But then I say, f**k it! Might as well dance as the ship's going down, eh??

Coming up:

9/28 Mamma Mia! Live and in person at the Auditorium Theater. I love the ABBAs... and I've not seen the stage version before...

10/13 Pearl Fishers at Lyric Opera. Two words, people: Nathan Gunn. 'Nuff said.

10/15 Joffrey's fall program which will be very very very very exciting and fun

10/27 Manon at Lyric. Ooo-la-la, Natalie Dessay!

11/10 Lulu at Lyric. I don't know anything about it, but it looks sexy.

11/22 Grey Gardens at Northlight Theater in Skokie. This will be my third visit with the Edies who clearly know which side my corn is buttered on...

On the wish list for sometime in October:
Amadeus at Chicago Shakes
Turn of the Century at Goodman (can you believe I work like a block and a half from this place and have never been there??) These two will happen, I just need to get my act together vis-a-vis obtaining the tickets! And I am in the planning stages of a 30th birthday blowout bash extravaganza that involves a visit to NYC and as many divas as I can pack into a long weekend. The hotel is booked and ticket for Thais has been secured.

sfb (those cats can dance!)

Back from the Harris Theater. Whoever told me the place was like a bunker was not wrong. They were right. You enter the lobby via the parking garage - I thought I was still in the garage and it took me a few minutes to realize I'd actually entered the lobby space. I was there really early, and jotted the following notes:

"lobby space is deeply ugly and uninspiring. Like an airport terminal with garish neon lights, metal benches and stark white block lettering on the walls directing you towards the restrooms, elevators, etc."

And apparently they've redone the lobby and this is still what they ended up with. Aarrgh. Some of the walls by the bathroom had some kind of padded fabric wall hangings, giving the place more of an institutional insane asylum sort of feel that is totally the vibe you want to give off in a hall that celebrates music and dance.

And when you walk into the house, you walk down to get to the seating, so the entire theater is basically underground. Once I got over the weirdness, though, the inside of the house is really nice, and I had a really nice seat. The sightlines where I was sitting were great for dance, so I was pleased. I had a very nice friendly chatty neighbor. He had seen program A and the gala performance and so I chatted with him a little bit about the ballet. It's nice to be able to interact with your neighbors and all, especially when they are enthusiastic about the art form, but can someone PLEASE tell me why the young, hot, available ones never plop next to me and start yakking? Just once?

Anyway. I'd been expecting great things and SFB did not disappoint. I'd chosen program B to attend over program A because of the first piece, On a Theme of Paganini. Choreographed by renowned SFB Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson, it was set to the music of Rachmaninov. The well-known bit of it, variation 18 is one of my favorite pieces of music and the beautiful pas de deux made me cry. Bravo. I rushed out at intermission no. 1 to get some nourishment (cookie) and some SFB logo apparel (SHH! Don't tell my boss!)

The second piece, Joyride was choreographed by Mark Morris and performed to music by John Adams. The company wore skin tight metallic lame costumes with blinking number screens on their fronts. It was kind of futuristic, I sort of thought Dr. Atomic (the opera by Adams that I saw at Lyric last season) with dancing - sort of modern dance elements with pointe work thrown in. I know some people around me didn't care for it, but I liked it a lot.

Another intermission - dash to the restroom this time. I will say this for you, Harris Theater - your lobby is horrifically ugly, but you done good on the ladies room situation. The facilities were large, clean and plentiful, and when you have 15 or 20 minutes to work with, that is really all that can be asked.

Third and final piece - Fusion by Yuri Possokhov, SFB's choreographer in residence. Fusion was inspired, according to the program, by a performance of the Whirling Dervishes, whose spinning dances are a form of devotion. A quote in that program deeply touched the choreographer - "Any thoughts can be expressed by dance."
Fusion pairs "spirituality with contemporary jazz movement."

I don't know enough about ballet yet to watch with a critical eye. To me, it's basically a hit if nobody falls down. Okay, so that's kind of an exageration, but I can't tell you much about technique or what the steps are called or anything like that. I watch it and just marvel at how these dancers are able to do what they're doing. It is truly beautiful. SFB is one of the best ballet companies in the country, if not THE best company, and from what I saw today, they are deserving of that accolade.

And, as you may have noticed, I found my way back to the car and made it home in about half an hour. Woo!

Something to look forward to...

Hey! It's late September in Chicago (the Stressed-Out Capital of the World, according to Forbes, anyway) does anyone really blame me for looking ahead to the summer and next season at Ravinia? It will not be hard to figure out where I will be in July & August what with the return of Ms. Patti to our Pavilion space, the delicious Mr. Dmitri in Rigoletto, and the "barn burning" Brahams extravaganza.

And... we're back!

Anyway, let's just talk a moment about House, shall we? I don't watch a lot of tv any more, but I usually sit still for Hugh Laurie. I've loved him for a very long time, in films like Peter's Friends, Sense & Sensibility, on tv in Jeeves & Wooster, A Little Fry & Laurie... So I would personally like to thank whoever it was at Fox who psychically read my thoughts and one day at a meeting declared, "I've got it! Let's give Hugh Laurie his own show!" Not only did they give the man his own show, but they built a complex, fully drawn character juicy enough for this talented actor to play. House is a cantankerous, crotchetty diagnostic genius, he's miserable, nasty and obnoxious. But through all that, he's also somehow likeable. Unlike the rather disastrous Private Practice, House blends good storytelling involving all its characters and intriguing medical mysteries.

there is a cup of sauerkraut in our fridge...

I arrived at the office this morning and put my lunch in our fridge, only to detect a funky odor. We've only been here since July, and we've so far been very polite in the use of our new fridge. Upon closer inspection, I found the source: a styrofoam cup of sauerkraut covered with plastic wrap. Why? Why would you bring sauerkraut to work? And then stick it, uneaten, in the fridge? Plastic wrap? Is not going to keep the stench under wraps, folks.

Is this a sign of what the rest of my day is going to be like?

Beam me up... Fiercely

So, I had planned to blog something personal, about some of my more anal-retentive tendencies like being early (for everything) and a few others, which would have been interesting, to be sure, (if I do say so myself!) if a little lengthy.

Or, I suppose I could write about how terrified I am of Sarah Palin and how she and John McCain haunt my nightmares on a regular basis (and? can I just say that no self-respecting Hillary Clinton supporter would EVER, EVER change sides and vote for THAT. Ever. That is all I am going to say. Until I have more to say though, obviously.

But I'm not gonna do either of those things. Instead, I'm going to talk about the new cycle of America's Next Top Model ("heeeyyyy!") that started last night. That's a lot more fun to think about, n'est c'e pas? I love that show. I can't even tell you why, so much. I'm not much of a reality tv fan otherwise, but get 14 girls on a catwalk, doing crazy photo shoots or getting Tyra mail and I am totally there, in front of the tube, unable to look away. I missed the first maybe 15 minutes though, so I have no idea what they were doing with the whole space-age futuristic theme, although I did enjoy the line "Beam us up. Fiercely." I also like the interview phases with the girls and I feel bad when they aren't able to do things like name 5 fashion designers or 5 working models. I can, and I'm not even in the industry. It's just silly to go in and say you want to be a model and not know even the most basic things about the business. The one question that would have stumped me would have been when Nigel asked Marjorie who her favorite photographer was. She eventually said what I would have answered, "Uhh, you?"

This cycle is shaping up to be quite interesting already - there's a pre-op transsexual chick, Isis, who kind of rocks, a crazy red-headed boxer chick from Lake Forest (of all places!) whose name is Brittany, but because there were 3 girls with that name, 2 of them had to change, so she changed hers to "McKey", a zen Asian chick from Harlem, a girl from "the sticks" (her words, not mine) of Alaska, the token bitchy southern chick who wants to win and will let no one stand in her way (including Isis. I wonder who would win that fight, huh?) - Clark is her name and she looks sort of like Blake Lively from Gossip Girl, only not as cute (rrraaaooow!), there's a vegan girl who's also bi, and oh, I don't even remember all the rest of them. It is too early for favorites. The judges remain the sexy noted fashion photographer Nigel Barker, Runway coach extraordinaire Miss J, Paulina I'm going-to-spell-her-name-wrong Poriskova, and Tyra.

The first to go was ShaRaun (another Brittany who had to change her name) from Chicago.

Until next week (and I promise I will not use this space to deconstruct each and every episode... unless the mood strikes me, of course...)

too fast to live, too old for facebook

So, I just got on to Facebook and honestly? I think I am too old for it. There's stuff on there like "Buy your friends" and I'm like huh? I've gotten some friend requests, and most people I know from high school and I'm happy to hear from - like, oh, I wonder what so-and-so's been up to. But today, I got one total surprise from someone in grade school. I haven't done anything with this friend request because I was like, really? It was junior high torture. Friend? I think not. And some I'm like who ARE you? I only created a profile because my friend Beth told me she'd done one and the only way I could see hers was to create one myself.

As any of you who visit me here know, I'm not the best with updating this blog, and I haven't done anything with my facebook page at all. Like I really need two places on these interwebs where I don't update stuff?

++ Update: Well, I went over to Facebook and updated my stuff. I still don't really get it, but it is kind of addictive...

Oh hell to the yes...

It's coming, people. The Mamma Mia! sing-along!

Brush up your ABBA and let's go!!

advancing art is easy, financing it is not

My life lately has turned into a Sondheim musical number. Naturally, I would be played by Bernadette Peters. Haa. My new job position requires a lot of writing and a lot of shmoozing - after all, what's a little cocktail conversation if it's gonna get us our foundation?

Here she is, boys...

The Gypsy cast recording came out yesterday! But since I pre-ordered mine at the theater on post-Tony Tuesday, it came straight to my door on Monday afternoon, so for a while at least, I was the first kid on my block to own it. I can't stop listening to it. Makes me want to go again, like right now. I did the same thing in the car when the overture started that I did when I was sitting in that darkened theater, waiting for the show to start, I bounced in my chair, clapped my hands and went "wheee!" (Yes, I know. Easily entertained. But give me a break here. I got kind of a promotion last week, although this basically means a new title and more work. I am taking my entertainment where I can find it, these days...)

I was intrigued especially by the added tracks that have not been recorded before - songs that got cut along the way. My favorites of these are "Small World/Momma's Talkin' Soft" "Nice She Ain't" "Smile, Girls" and "Who Needs Him." I would really like to see a few of these put back into the show, but when you listen to them, it is kind of understandable why they got taken out in the first place. But they do kind of add a whole new dimension to Rose's character.

Back to school!

It seems that summer is well and truly over - it is the first day of school in my home town district 219, our short Friday summer hours end this week, and it's time for me to start thinking about new boots...

I am obsessed, for some reason, with back-to-school supplies. It was always my favorite part of going back to school - new clean spiral bound notebooks, reams of filler paper, pens(!) #2 pencils, trapper keepers, chandler's assignment notebooks, backpacks (and can I just ask WTF is with the kids now lugging around backpacks on wheels?? I carried all my crap for 12 years on my back, and I'm totally fine. Toughen up, already) all of that good stuff. Even now, I can happily spend a good solid hour in Staples or Office Max, just looking at all the great stuff. This doesn't mean I want to actually go back to school or like, have kids or anything. It probably just means I am very easily entertained.

I was also thinking about my first day as a high school freshman. I don't remember a lot about it - I had a good locker location B275, which is of course critical. There was a lot of ice-breaking going on that first day. I remember specifically having Spanish class mods 2-4 (oh, yes. We were on a mod system. Something else to throw the freshmen completely off track.) and our teacher, a young enthusiastic guy with a ponytail, got up on his desk and did a trust fall, backwards, onto us. Stop and think about this for a minute. Asking a bunch of freshmen, first thing in the morning, to catch you as you tumble backwards off your desk? That takes a LOT of trust (or foolishness?) Good thing he didn't try this move at the end of the year, as I think we all would have let him just fall. Seriously. He this kind of crunchy granola touchy feely, 'I'm THERE for you' kind of teachers. Really really earnest. I remember looking around at my classmates thinking nobody told me THIS was going to happen in high school. Are they ALL going to do this?? Fortunately, the other teachers just stuck to regular kinds of ice breakers and nobody else threw themselves bodily off of any furniture.

Thank you, Peter Gelb!

Since I can't actually go to New York City to see the dazzling Ms. Renée Fleming in the Metropolitan Opera's Opening Night gala on September 22nd, it looks like I will have to settle for the next best thing... the Met in HD, coming soon to a theater near you (& me!). Seriously, I think this is one of the best ideas anyone has ever had, ever. I get to see the Met's gorgeous productions, have some popcorn and milk duds if I want, and not have to leave the state.

In other news, since I can't let an entire year go by without actually physically going to the Met, I've bought a ticket for Thais in December. It is all part of my 30th birthday blowout extravaganza. This will also hopefully involve another trip to see Patti in Gypsy (stay open, please!) and maybe a few other shows...

You can't make this shit up...

1. I'd like to formally apologize to my colleague, as I thought she was lying about trampolining being an Olympic Sport. But it really is! I didn't believe it until I saw it last night with my own eyes. It's oddly fascinating, and I like it MUCH more than beach volleyball. You know how most people like jumping on the bed as kids? This kind of reminded me of that - jumping on the bed with no danger of hitting your head on the ceiling, no chance of getting yelled at by mom, and being able to do triple double sommersaults and cool stuff like that. There is also apparently synchronized trampoline and I am super curious to see that. Strangely though, this seems to be a sport where the US is not smashing the competition. I wonder why not?

2. Was at Ravinia this past weekend. Can someone please explain to me why on earth anyone would buy lawn tickets to a dance event?? The music wasn't really that great, and if you go spread a blanket or whatever way the hell back by the special event tents, you aren't going to see anything, either. So what's the point??

TGIF!

Well, I don't know about all y'all, but I am SO ready for the weekend! Some happiness that added to my Friday:

1. The purchase of tickets to see Ms. Patti at North Central College in Naperville (yes, it's in April. I am all about planning ahead)- front row seats, too, holla!

2. A new beverage at Argo tea - the Carmelotto Macchiato - it's coffee! It's chocolate! It's caramel! It's full of caffeinated deliciousness! Can you tell I'm still kind of on the caffeine buzz??

3. A lunchtime visit to my happy place - AKA the Art Institute where I spent most of my time in front of the Seurat. I am considering membership over there, should this become a serious habit.

4. Tomorrow night I get to see a certain bunch of talented dancers at Ravinia and the weather is supposed to be beautiful.

5. Tonight I am planning to get scrappy with my friends - I have not done anything remotely crafty in a very long time.

6.

Authorized Patti at Les Mouches recording... I have a not-s0-authorized one... which I love... but the real thing?? Woo!

Happy happy Friday! I am outta here!

the 'twilight' zone (thanks a lot, Heidi)

I spent most of this past weekend lost in a little town called Forks, Washington, where vampires and shape shifting wolf men roam free. Yes, I finally got with the program and read Stephenie Meyer's four book Twilight saga. I started on Friday with the first book, Twilight, and I finished the fourth book Breaking Dawn last night. That averages out to about a book a day, and they are not small books. I would have been done with them all sooner, I think, but I kept getting distracted by the Olympics... first the opening ceremonies and then non-stop swimming, diving and gymnastics (but set your DVRs, people, trampolining is set to be aired this coming Saturday!)

See? I'm distracting myself even now. The books are lots and lots of fun, and I enjoyed reading them, so here's my public shout out to Heidi my home girl and fellow member of Team Jacob, for telling me about her obsession and helping me to feed it by loaning me a few of the tomes so that I didn't even have to leave the house in order to finish the series. You were right, once again. And thanks.

So my book pile is sadly depleted again... any ideas??